John Lewis Is First Retailer to Remove Gender Labelling From Child Clothing

John Lewis has become the first retailer to remove gender labels from its clothing, and we hope that more will follow suit.

John Lewis has removed gender labelling from kids' clothes

After a summer which feels like it has been filled with stories of parents calling out clothes for being sexist or gender-biased, it is refreshing to see that one of the high street’s major retailers has elected to remove all “boys” and “girls” labelling from its children’s clothes. All John Lewis own-brand children’s clothing from now on will simply be labelled “Boys & Girls.”

What could be even more exciting is that they have scrapped having separate sections in the store for boys and girls. So now, girls and boys will be able to pop into John Lewis with their parents, head to children’s clothing, and pick out whichever outfit they want, without being directed to the clothes they should be wearing. There will still be the same choice of floral dresses, high fashion shorts, and warm coats. The big difference is that a child will choose what suits them, without being told they cannot wear something.

A new unisex clothing line for children has also been launched, which features dinosaur print dresses and spaceship tops.

School uniforms have not yet been changed but will be soon, and the website still has boys and girls sections, but this is currently under review.

Many have embraced the change, with Rowan Wiseman tweeting, “Disturbingly some seem upset #JohnLewis are removing gender labelling of (kids) clothes. Why not promote equality & stop stereotyping.” Mumma-Jelly was also in agreement. “GLAD my boys can choose clothes from generic ranges. Damaged if they wear a yellow hoody formerly labelled for girls? Give over #johnlewis”

Others are unconvinced, labelling it PC gone mad, whilst some seem downright offended by the move. @gab fcuk-eu commented “Never been so disgusted in John Lewis – we’ve just bought all our baby boys stuff cot, pram etc I’ve a mind to return it all #johnlewis

Caroline Bettis, head of childrenswear at John Lewis, commented: “We do not want to reinforce gender stereotypes within our John Lewis collections and instead want to provide greater choice and variety to our customers, so that the parent or child can choose what they would like to wear.”